1892 — May 20, Passenger/freight trains collide Crooked Bayou near Goldman, AR –9-13

1892 — May 20, passenger/local freight trains collide, Crooked Bayou, near Goldman, AR– 13

–13 Blanchard estimated death toll:

We have counted 18 named and unidentified bodies said to have been recovered from the wreck. In that the highest death-toll we have seen, complete with names of identified victims, is thirteen (Galveston Daily News, May 23, 1892), we choose to follow this source. We conclude that there must have been errors in the naming of victims in at least several of the sources we show, in that our tally of all such names totals eighteen, five more than any single report we have seen.

–18 Blanchard tally of all the various names listed in newspaper articles as fatalities at the time.
–13 Galveston Daily News, TX. “Victims of the Wreck. List of the Killed…” 5-23-1892.
— 9 Belleville Telescope, KS. “Death in a Collision.” 5-27-1892, p. 2.
— 9 Grenada Sentinel, MS. “Cotton Belt Disaster.” 5-28-1892, p. 2.
— 9 Piqua Daily Leader, OH. “The Disaster…Dead Victims of the Railway…” 5-23-1892, p. 1.
— 9 The World, NY. “Nine Bodies Taken Out.” 5-23-1892, p. 11.
— 8 Rock Island Daily Argus, IL. “Was An Oversight, But it Cost Eight…Lives…” 5-23-1892, 1.
— 7 Bloomington Leader, IL. “Cotton Belt Casualty…Cotton Belt Railway Line.” 5-21-1892, 1.
— 7 Burlington Hawkeye, IA. “Seven Killed Near Crooked Bayou, Ark.” 5-22-1892, p. 1.
— 7 Eastern State Journal, White Plains, NY. “History of 1892.” 12-31-1892, p. 1.
— 6 St. Joseph Herald, MO. “Six Killed in Arkansas.” 5-22-1892,” p. 1.

Narrative Information

May 21: “Pine Bluff, Ark., May 21. – Last evening about 10 o’clock a passenger train on the Cotton Belt had orders to turn back on account of high water south of Robroy [Rob Roy?], near this city, had orders to meet the local freight at Humphrey, but through an oversight of the crew, they commenced backing the train to Goldman, the next station. On reaching the curve at Crooked Bayou, the local freight, coming at full speed, ran into the sleeper and coaches, throning them from the trestle into a deep bayou. Six persons were killed outright and eleven wounded, more or less seriously. The killed are:

James Morgan Crumpton, Nashville, Tenn.
Mrs. Huggins and son.
Mrs. A. N. Henson of Fisher, Ark.
Unknown woman.”

(St. Joseph Herald, MO. “Six Killed in Arkansas.” 5-22-1892,” p. 1.)

May 21: “St. Louis, May 21 – A passenger and freight train on the Cotton Belt road collided near Crooked Bayou, Ark., last night. Four persons are reported killed and a dozen injured.

“The latest news is that seven were killed and twelve seriously injured. The bodies of Mrs. Henson of Arkansas, Messrs. Osman, Jones, and Swam, and the colored porter of the sleeping car have been identified. Another of the killed is supposed to be James Morgan of Memphis, Tenn.” (Bloomington Leader, IL. “Cotton Belt Casualty. Serious Accident on the Cotton Belt Railway Line.” 5-21-1892, p. 1.)

May 21: “St. Louis, Mo., May 21. – A freight train on the Cotton Belt road collided with a passenger train near Crooked Bayou, Arkansas, last night [20th?], on account of the failure of the passenger crew to observe the rules. Seven persons were killed and twenty-two wounded.” (Burlington Hawkeye, IA. “Seven Killed Near Crooked Bayou, Ark.” 5-22-1892, p. 1.

May 22: “Pine Bluff, Ark., May 22. – The government steamer Wichita this morning brought here the bodies of the following persons killed in the Cotton Belt wreck near Goldman, night before last: (We add numbering to the listing.)

1. Octave Anderson, of Amarillo, Tex.
2. William Christol, of Denton, Tex.
3. J. Tuck Sanderson, of Pierce City, Mo.
4. Mrs. R. A Clark, Winchester, Tenn.
5. R. D. Compton, Nashville, Tenn.
6. Mrs. Hudgens, on her way from Alabama to Fort Worth, Tex. Her husband is reported dying at Humphrey, Ark.
7. A man who is thus far unidentified. On his body was found a draft for $600, issued by the State national bank of Memphis in favor of James Morgan.
8. …Frank Nichols, fireman on the freight train;
9. a two months’ old baby of H. A. Parker, and
10. Mrs. Ann Henson of Arkansas were killed and
11-13. Three more bodies were taken from the sleeper by divers this evening.…”

(Galveston Daily News, TX. “Victims of the Wreck. List of the Killed and Injured in the Goldman Catastrophe.” 5-23-1892.)

May 23, Belleville Telescope: “Pine Bluff, Ark., May 23. — Friday evening about 10 o’clock the south-bound passenger train of the St. Louis Southwestern railroad, familiarly known as the Cotton Belt, had orders to turn back on account of the high water at Rob Roy near this city and had orders to meet the local freight at Humphrey, but through an oversight of the crew they commenced backing the train to Goldman, the next station. On reaching the curve at Crooked Bayou, the local freight, coming at full speed, ran into the sleeper and coaches, turning them from the trestle into the deep bayou and killed nine people outright and wounded eighteen more or less seriously.” (Belleville Telescope, KS. “Death in a Collision.” 5-27-1892, p. 2.)

May 23: “Pine Bluff, Ark., May 23. – One of the worst wrecks in the history of the Cotton Belt road occurred between 9 and 10 o’clock Friday night on a trestlework between Humphrey and Goldman, some twenty miles above here. The wreck was indirectly due to the flood occasioned by the overflow of the Arkansas river. Eight persons were killed outright and twenty two injured. Those killed were: [we break into single lines text from the original paragraph]

Mrs. Anderson, Amarilla, Tex.;
J. Morgan Crumpton, Nashville, Tenn.;
Mrs. Henson, wife of bridge foreman;
Mrs. R. P. Hudgins and son, Grape Vine, Tex.;
J. Nichols, freight fireman;
ranchman, Waco, Tex., name unknown;
Unknown man. ….”

(Rock Island Daily Argus, IL. “Was An Oversight, But it Cost Eight…Lives…” 5-23-1892, p.1.)

May 23: “By Associated Press. Pine Bluff, Ark., May 23 – A dispatch from Crooked Bayou says that divers have been at work all day on the sunken wreck of the St. Louis train on the Cotton Belt road. The Pullman car Mercury and the chair-car are buried under twenty feet of water and nine bodies have been taken from them. The work of recovery will be completed today. There are over a dozen wounded in the houses near the scene of the wreck who are said to be dying.” (The World, NY. “Nine Bodies Taken Out. Divers Still Working on the Sunken Train at Crooked Bayou.” 5-23-1892, p. 11.)

May 23: “Pine Bluff, Ark., May 23 [unclear]. – The list of the victims of the terrible wreck which occurred on the Southwestern Friday night near Goldman has increased to nine dead so far recovered. The railway officials secured the United States steamer Wichita to go down the river to the bridge at Rob-roy and bring up the dead to this city, as trains cannot come to this city on account of high water. The boat has arrived with seven victims of the wreck, one of them having been found after the train [steamer?] left the wreck. The names of the dead, as officially given, are as follows: [we break into single lines the names of the victims listed in paragraph form]

Mrs. Octave Anderson, Amarillo, Tex.;
William Christal, Denton, Tex.;
J. T. Sanderson, Pierce City, Mo.;
Mrs. R. B. Clark, Winchester, Tenn.;
R. D. Crompton, Nashville;
Mrs. E. A. M. Henson, Fisher, Ark.;
Mrs. Hudgins, of Alabama, en route to Fort Worth, Tex.;
James Morgan, Memphis, Tenn.;
Frank Nichols, fireman of the freight.”

“….The company had divers at work in the ill fated Pullman, and now think that they have recovered all of the dead from it, and that no more will be found.

“This has been the most costly and disastrous wreck that ever occurred in this state, and happened on the same spot where two previous wrecks occurred, both resulting in the loss of life….” (Grenada Sentinel, MS. “Cotton Belt Disaster.” 5-28-1892, p. 2.)

May 25: “A telegram was received yesterday stating that J. T. Sanders, well known in Jacksonville as Tuck Sanders, and a brother of Mrs. J. C. Neil, was killed Friday night in the accident on the Cotton Belt railroad near Crooked Bayou, Ark. Mr. Sanders had been a resident of Richey, Mo., but was preparing to remove to St. Louis. He was a genial whole souled fellow, and his death is a sad blow to his family and friends. His remains will be interred at Richey.” (Illinois Weekly Courier, Jacksonville. “From Monday’s Daily.” 5-25-1892, p. 9.)

June 2: “Mr. H. D. Markham who has just returned from a trip north, relates the most thrilling experience of any man who has passed through a great calamity and still lives. Mr. Markham was a passenger from St. Louis coming home, and the train on which he was riding was the fated Cotton Belt train that went down in an awful wreck near Golden, Ark. A Herald reporter called on Mr. Markham yesterday for the particulars of the wreck, which he gives as follows.

I was on the train coming south, and was riding in the first coach when the accident occurred….When the train got to Rob Roy, a small station north of the river, it was considered impossible to be transferred at that time. We waited there for several hours and while waiting the engineer of our train indulged freely in in the use of beer, so that by the time we were ready to go back he was well tanked up….The engineer got orders at Altheimer to take siding at Wabbaseka, for a freight to pass our train. The engineer was too drunk to read the order and instead of taking the siding kept on his way. The passenger train was running at the rate of about thirty miles per hour and the freight at about twenty. They met on the bridge over Crooked bayou and five passenger coaches of the passenger train and three box cars from the freight were precipitated some twenty or thirty feet into the bayou.

The first knowledge I had of the accident was in indistinct shock. M. H. Turner of Wolfe City, was on the train with me and I remarked to him that the coach was off the track; at that time I started to get up when I felt the coach falling. The next think I knew we were in the bayou. The coach had fallen nearly upside down and there I was, standing on my head with my head thrust out of one of the ventilators in the top of the car. I tried to extricate myself, but my arms were pinioned and I discovered I was helpless, I felt the water around my head and ears and began to strangle; I thought I was a goner and gave up all hope. Mr. Turner, seeing my condition and being free, grasped my by the body and pulled me out. We then walked up to the rear of the car, forced the door and managed to scramble out to place of safety….

“Those who were not killed by the fall of the car were drowned soon after the fall….

“There were two people – H. M. Jenkins, of Flat Ridge, Va., and James Langley, of Memphis, Tenn., who were so seriously hurt that they cannot survive. Their names were not among those printed in the dispatches yesterday….”

(The Democrat, M’Kinney, TX. “It was Horrible. Mr. H. D. Markham Tells of the Cotton Belt Wreck.” 6-2-1892, p. 1.)

Dec 31: “May…21. 7 killed and 18 injured in a railroad wreck at Crooked bayou, Arkansas.”
(Eastern State Journal, White Plains, NY. “History of 1892 – The Chronological Record of a Memorable Year….Demons of Destruction.” 12-31-1892, p. 1.)

Recap of Names Noted Above as Fatalities:

1. Anderson, Mrs. Octave, of Amarillo, TX
2. Christal, William, Denton, TX
3. Clark, Mrs. R. B., of Winchester, TN (also reported as Mrs. R. A. Clark)
4. Crumpton, James Morgan, of Nashville, TN. (also listed as James Morgan Crompton or James Morgan, or R. D. Compton.)
5. Henson, Mrs. A. N. of Fisher, AR (wife of bridge foreman; also named as Ann Henson.)
6. Huggins, Mrs., of Grape Vine, TX (also noted as Mrs. Hudgins of AL on way to Fort Worth)
7. Huggins, unnamed son of Mrs. Huggins (not listed as one of nine dead in Grenada Sentinel, though the Galveston Daily News of May 23 notes her husband “is reported dying at Humphrey, Ark.”
8. Jones, Mr.
9. Nichols, J., freight fireman (also listed as Frank Nichols)
10. Osman, Mr.
11. Parker, two-months old baby of H. A. Parker.
12. Sanders, Mr. J. T. of Richey, MO (also listed as J. T. Sanderson, of Pierce City, MO)
13. Swam, Mr.
14. Unnamed porter of the sleeping car. (Grenada Sentinel of May 28 has J. Jones, porter on the Pullman as slightly injured.)
15. Unnamed Waco, TX ranchman
16. One of three unidentified bodies recovered from the Pullman sleeper by divers May 22.
17. One of three unidentified bodies recovered from the Pullman sleeper by divers May 22.
18. One of three unidentified bodies recovered from the Pullman sleeper by divers May 22.

Noted as “so seriously hurt that they cannot survive.”
Jenkins, H. M., of Flat Ridge, VA.
Langley, James, of Memphis, TN
Sources

Belleville Telescope, KS. “Death in a Collision.” 5-27-1892, p. 2. Accessed 12-14-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/kansas/belleville/belleville-telescope/1892/05-27/page-2?tag

Bloomington Leader, IL. “Cotton Belt Casualty. Serious Accident on the Cotton Belt Railway Line.” 5-21-1892, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bloomington-leader-may-21-1892-p-1/

Burlington Hawkeye, IA. “Seven Killed Near Crooked Bayou, Ark.” 5-22-1892, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-hawk-eye-may-22-1892-p-1/

Eastern State Journal, White Plains, NY. “History of 1892 – The Chronological Record of a Memorable Year….Demons of Destruction.” 12-31-1892, p. 1. Accessed 2-6-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/white-plains-eastern-state-journal-dec-31-1892-p-1/

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Victims of the Wreck. List of the Killed and Injured in the Goldman Catastrophe.” 5-23-1892. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: http://www.gendisasters.com/arkansas/1080/humphrey%2C-ar-train-wreck%2C-may-1892

Grenada Sentinel, MS. “Cotton Belt Disaster.” 5-28-1892, p. 2. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/grenada-sentinel-may-28-1892-p-2/

Illinois Weekly Courier, Jacksonville. “From Monday’s Daily.” 5-25-1892, p. 9. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/jacksonville-illinois-courier-may-25-1892-p-9/

Piqua Daily Leader, OH. “The Disaster. The Dead Victims of the Railway Wreck Number Nine.” 5-23-1892, p. 1. Accessed 12-14-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/piqua/piqua-daily-leader/1892/05-23?tag

Rock Island Daily Argus, IL. “Was An Oversight, But it Cost Eight Human Lives…” 5-23-1892, 1. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/rock-island-daily-argus-may-23-1892-p-1/

St. Joseph Herald, MO. “Six Killed in Arkansas.” 5-22-1892,” p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-joseph-herald-may-22-1892-p-1/

The Democrat, M’Kinney, TX. “It was Horrible. Mr. H. D. Markham Tells of the Cotton Belt Wreck.” 6-2-1892, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mckinney-democrat-jun-02-1892-p-1/

The World, NY. “Nine Bodies Taken Out.” 5-23-1892, p. 11. Accessed 2-10-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-evening-world-may-23-1892-p-11/